


Radar Love

by Lyra_Kero



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 80's Music, Allura can Talk to Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), I actually don't know if i like how this story went, I'm Sorry, Lotor is a Creep, M/M, Revenge, Texas, but - Freeform, but i wrote it, i never actually saw the show, is this like ghost whisperer?, it's just how the story works, keith is dead, lance is dead, matt is missing, so let's-a go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:28:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29903175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyra_Kero/pseuds/Lyra_Kero
Summary: Allura's had a gift. She's been able to see and help spirits move on, since she was a young girl and under her mother's training. Now older, she's made it her mission to help as many of these spirits as possible find peace.When Pidge learns that her brother was last seen in Texas, Allura, Shiro and Hunk all agree to follow along. But the small town of Marmora isn't just the last sighting of Matt. It also is host to a mystery swept under the rug, a murderer who got away with his crime, and two spirits out for revenge.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	1. Prologue: And the radio plays some forgotten song...

**Author's Note:**

> -stares off into the distance-  
> so a long while back i was trying to remember a tv show i watched. it had to do with a pair of lovers who had died, and were out causing crashes and killing people.  
> turns out a lot of the details i thought i remembered were wrong, and the show and episode i was thinking of was reaper's "love, bullets and blacktop". but the weird plotline i thought up wouldn't leave me alone, so of course i messily turned into a voltron fic. 
> 
> in my head, everything made sense, but writing it all down i'm not so sure. however i told myself that once i finished this i'd post it and that's what i'm doing. yolo, and all that.
> 
> if you read "let's blow this popsicle stand", that fic takes place before the events of the first chapter (obviously), however it is not required reading.
> 
> chapter count is subject to change while i try and figure out if i'm happy with the chapter breaks or not.  
> title is from golden earring's "radar love".

**1989 - Marmora, Texas**

The highway was empty and dark as a deep purple, nearly black, Buick Grand National tore down the asphalt. Behind the driver's side, a dark skinned teen gripped the wheel. Bright blue eyes kept on the road as his partner fussed with the radio dial, stopping when he settled on a station. His dark brown hair was cut short in the back, the longer, usually curly top had been styled into a pompadour.

Beside him, his partner eased back into his seat, pale skin contrasting the driver’s. His hair also seemed to differ, long and black, his bangs slicked to stay out of his face. He turned his soft purple eyes over, a slow smile spreading across his full lips as the song on the station faded and a familiar beat started. “They’re playing our song, babe.” he cooed, raising a gloved hand and teasing just under the driver’s chin.  
“So they are, Keith.” the diver said, laughing as his partner moved the hand away and turned the volume up. Bass thrummed around them as the vocalist started up.

_“I’ve been driving all night, hands wet on the wheel. There’s a voice in my head that drives my heel.”_

The driver briefly pulled his eyes off the road, and looked over as the dark haired boy threw his head back, smile wide and open as he belted out along with the lyrics. “It’s my baby callin’, says I need you here. And it’s a half past four, and I’m shifting gear” when his gaze was met, the driver shook his head, turning back to the road as he started in.

“When she is lonely and the longing gets too much, she sends a cable coming in from above. Don’t need no phone at all.” the driver drummed his hands against the steering wheel as both he and Keith joined in on the chorus.

“We’ve got a thing that’s called radar love! We’ve got a wave in the air, radar love!”

They laughed, continuing to sing along, the driver turning to look fondly at Keith every so often. The two were enjoying themselves, the Buick picking up more speed on the empty highway, until the dark haired boy looked back at the road, the next words cut off as his eyes widened.  
“Lance! Look out!”

Lance turned to look ahead, a large deer standing in the road, eyes locked on their car. “Shit!” his foot slammed down on the breaks, but they didn’t slow down. He panicked, jerking the steering wheel. The deer bolted once the headlights were off him, bounding away and over the railing and into the woods on the right. The car swerved left, crashing into those railings.

Glass spiderwebbed and cracked. The car jolted. Both boys screamed out as they crashed through trees, one in particular coming in fast. Lance jerked the steering wheel, both felt the car jerk as the wheels lost traction and the Buick flipped.

The last thing they heard, outside of crunching metal, was the singer on the radio, _“And the radio played that forgotten song. Brenda Lee’s_ Coming on Strong. _And the newsman sang his same song. Oh, one more Radar Lover gone…”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Present Day - Altea, California**

The small bell above the door to Alfor’s Antiques chimed as two young teens entered; a tall, large boy and a smaller girl. The boy fidgeted, fussing with his fingers as he followed the girl, who walked with a purpose towards the back. “Pidge,” he whispered, shoulders hunched up to his ears, “are you sure about this?”  
“Hunk, I’m sure.” the girl, Pidge, turned, amber eyes magnified behind glasses. “Allura is nice, she’ll understand.”

“I’ll understand what?” The two teens jumped and turned. Behind them, a tall, elegant woman stood, smiling warmly down to them. Her long, white hair pulled up and back in a neat bun, darker roots just starting to peek through, but her blue eyes twinkled with mischief at startling the two kids.  
“Allura, I want to request a few weeks off.” Pidge said, adjusting her glasses, straightening her back. At once, Allura’s smile waivered. “I…” Pidge swallowed, “I found someone out in Texas who might have some information on my brother.”

“Pidge,” Allura reached out a hand, lightly placing it on the younger girl’s shoulder. “I don’t want to discourage you, but last time -”  
“Last time I rushed into it.” Pidge hunched up her shoulders, Allura’s hand gently falling off the shoulder. “I know. I messed up, and I’m, again, _so grateful_ you and Coran and Shiro were there to help me. But!” She cut off Allura as the older woman opened her mouth. “This is different. This person actually talked with Matt. Spent time with him. I don’t know about what, but I need to go. And Hunk is coming with me, so it’ll be safe!”

At his name, Hunk held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t get a chance to try and talk her out of it.” he quickly said, “She called me up and told me she was going and I was coming along and to meet her here.”

Allura sighed, her hands coming to rest on her hips. “Pidge, I don’t feel right letting you go off by yourself, even if Hunk is going along.” she added the last part quickly, seeing the young girl open her mouth and start pointing to her friend. “I’ll speak with Coran. I’m sure he’ll be perfectly fine running this place alone.”

“Alone..?” Pidge lowered her hand, blinking. “Allura, you don’t-”  
“I insist.” the older woman smiled, warmly. “It won’t be the first time Coran’s had to hold down the fort here. I’ll speak with him, then call up Shiro. I think we can leave a bit sooner all together.”

Pidge stared up at Allura, eyes stinging as she fought to hold back her tears. She allowed the relieved smile to wash across her face, however. “Thank you.”

“I can’t believe we’re _driving_ to Texas.” Pidge sighed, slumping against the back seat of Shiro’s car, the man in question was finishing loading up their luggage in the back of his van.  
“It’ll be fine, Pidge.” Shiro said, smiling as he looked over to her. “Besides, you know Hunk hates flying.”  
“It’s true. I’m less likely to be throwing up every five minutes in the car.” Hunk said, smiling warmly.  
“It’ll take _forever_ though!” the young girl threw her hands up into the air, but only groaned when the response she got was the door to the back slamming closed. “Shiro’s van is _ancient!_ It still has a _tape deck player!_ ”  
“Relax,” Allura turned to look back at her from the front passenger seat. “We’ll still make it there and you can meet up with this person.” Her smile grew, “Plus, we’ll get to stop and see some fun side attractions!”

“What’s his name, anyway?” Shiro asked, climbing into the driver’s seat, pulling the seat belt across his body.

“Rolond...” Pidge glanced down to her phone, pulling up the conversation the two of them had shared a few nights ago. “Powlowski.” she shrugged. “He’s let me call him Rolo, though. It’s easier to type out.”  
“And you’re sure we can trust him?” Shiro’s Dad Voice was coming out as he looked back to her, eyes narrowed in concern.  
“He didn’t ask me to come over, _I_ asked if I could.” Pidge set her phone down. “Besides, I had Coran help me look him up. He had some small, _small_ , crimes on record when he was younger. Mostly truancy and stealing beer and stuff like that. He apparently has a wife and kid on the way.” She looked back down to her phone, “He hasn’t asked me for any pictures, and he actually told me to get a room at a hotel, and not tell him which one. Plus, we’ve mostly talked about Matt. He described him perfectly so I know he’s been in contact.”

“As long as we stay together, we’ll be fine.” Allura said, looking over and placed a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We’re all going to be meeting him in an open, public area.”  
“Do we _have_ to drive down there to meet him, though?” Hunk asked, looking over to Pidge. “Pidge could just set up a video call or something to talk to him.”  
“I just want to see if I can find some clues as to where Matt’s gone. What’s he doing, and why he left…” the young girl looked down, her thumb rubbing against the side of her phone. “This is the biggest break I’ve had, and it shows he _is_ still alive.” Her shoulders shook faintly, and when Hunk held open an arm, the young girl shifted closer and leaned into the hug.

From the front seat, the two adults shared a look. Shiro sighed, starting up the vehicle and the four began the long drive to Texas.

**Marmora - 11:30 PM, Monday**

The sun had long since set as a man drove down the road. He rolled his windows down to let the cool air in, tousling his salt-and-pepper hair as he stared blankly ahead. One had stayed on the steering wheel as the other quickly pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. The line rang once before a voice spoke.  
_“Throk, I take it things went well?”_  
“You bet.” Throk smiled, relaxing as the radio played quietly, changing songs. “Things are looking up for you.”  
_“A pity that Sal’s will be closing soon.”_ the voice said, fake sorrow lacing his words. _“But perhaps a good visit from an old friend will help.”_

Throk laughed quietly, “I’ll bet he’ll be thrilled to hear from you.” his ears perked, glancing down to the radio as recognition hit him. “Huh.”  
_“What is it?”_  
“Nothing important. Just an old song.” Throk smiled, looking back ahead to the road. “Brings back memories.”  
_“Keep your memories to yourself. I only want to think about the future.”_

Throk laughed, and the two hung up. He eased back in the seat as the words washed over him.

_“When she is lonely and the longing gets too much, she sends a cable coming in from above. Don’t need no phone at all-”_

The lights of a car peeked over a hill ahead of him. He didn’t focus too much on it, until he realized the car was in the same lane as him. “What the fuck?” Throk’s eyes widened as he swerved, managing to get out of the way. As he drove past, he saw the car was an old Buick Regal, the windows tinted. He glared, the song on the radio crescendoing into the chorus.

He glanced into the rearview, and saw the Buick spin around, following him. Throk threw down the gas, trying in vain to speed away.

Throk gripped the wheel tighter, the car jerking as the Buick slammed into him. He trembled as he felt panic bubble up. He swerved, trying to dodge the next slam of the car, skidding into the side railings.

He turned his head, seeing the Buick pull up beside him. “What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?!” he yelled out to the car. The Buick’s engine only roared and growled in response.

One more slam, and his car was pushed off the road. Throk screamed as his car slid down the hill, crunching and curling around a tree.

The Buick drove off as the radio continued to play before cutting off with the final note of the song.


	3. Chapter 3

**11:34 AM**

The sun was high in the sky that morning, as the group slowly drove down the road, Pidge’s head turning as they passed by a group of police cars and ambulance off the side. She could barely make out a car that crashed down in the trees.  
“What happened?” Hunk peered over her shoulder, spinning in his seat to try and get a better view of the accident.  
“Who knows,” Shiro said, his own eyes briefly looking into the side mirrors as the lights faded behind them. “Looked like a bad accident.”  
“I hope whoever was in there wasn’t seriously injured.” Allura murmured, frowning before turning her attention back to the road. She smiled, “I think we’re here.” she pointed ahead to a sign, informing them of their arrival in Marmora.

“Finally.” Pidge smiled, eyes wide with excitement. She looked down at her phone, typing out a message to send to Rolo. “I’ll figure out where he wants to meet.”  
“And I’ll find us a place to stay.” Shiro said, looking towards Allura, who rolled her eyes.  
“Which means you’re going to ask me to find places and you’ll choose whatever one sounds coolest.” she teased, already taking out her own phone.

A short time later the group had found a cozy motel, and after asking for directions had made it to a comfortable café called Vrepit Sal’s. Pidge looked around, frowning a bit. “I don’t see him,” she murmured. “He said he was here already.”  
“Do you know what he looks like?” Hunk asked, looking over her shoulder and down to her phone as Pidge typed out a message.

About that time, Shiro gave the girl a gentle nudge and pointed over to a corner booth. An older man was holding up his hand, waving towards them.  
“Are you Rolo?” Shiro asked as they got closer, giving him a once over.  
“I am.” Rolo said, smiling. His long hair seemed to be thinning, but he kept it tied in a loose ponytail. He cast his gaze across the group. “And I take it you’re Pidge?” he looked towards the youngest, grey eyes twinkling. “Matt talked a lot about you.”  
“Do you know where he went?” Pidge asked, already climbing into the booth across from the older man, causing Rolo to laugh. He watched as she took out her laptop, booting it up and quickly opening a file. “Please, you have to tell me.”

“Pidge, don’t be rude.” Allura tisked, before looking back towards Rolo. “I’m sorry about her behaviour.”  
“Don’t apologise.” Rolo waved his hand, then motioned for the others to sit. “Matt told me he kind of just up and left. And Pidge here has been very eager to hear from me.”  
“Do you know where he was staying while he was here?” Pidge asked, sitting up straight, doing her best to look professional.  
“He was staying with my wife and I.” Rolo said, carefully resting his hands on the table in front of him. “We offered him the guest room, as long as he didn’t mind it being made up for the baby.” 

“Can I see the room?” Pidge’s eye widened, and Shiro shot her a look.  
“ _Pidge!_ ” he warned, and Rolo raised an eyebrow.  
“Why would you want to do that?” he asked, looking over to Shiro, who was giving Pidge a disapproving stare.  
“I want to see if Matt may have left something there. A clue or anything.” Pidge pressed on. “Any information I can get, that will tell me why he left, or where he’s going.”  
“He didn’t tell me where he was going,” Rolo said, “and my wife and I cleaned up the room after he left. We didn’t find anything that wasn’t there before.” he scratched at the side of his face as he thought. “He said he was just travelling. He couldn’t stay in one place. Kept to himself, seemed pretty cagey though. Like someone was after him.”

“Did he say who?” Pidge was already writing down the new information on her computer, eagerly accepting the knowledge.  
“I’m afraid not. Sorry.” Rolo smiled, “But he did take a bus that was going east.”  
“Nothing more specific?” when the older man shook his head, Pidge added the last of the information to her file.

“Is that a jukebox?” Hunk’s voice broke through, and the group looked over as the teen pointed towards the corner. Sure enough, a jukebox stood proud. “Does it work?”  
“Sure does, honey.” a waitress came by, smiling as she set down a cup of coffee in front of Rolo.  
“Is it alright to use it?” Hunk looked up to her as she took out a notepad to take everyone else’s order.  
“You got a quarter, the juke’s yours.” she smiled, watching as Hunk dug through his pockets, managing to find a quarter and hurried over to the jukebox.

While everyone placed an order, Shiro ordering for Hunk, the boy flipped through the songs. They all seemed to be older ones, a few he recognized from his own family playing some of them. He paused as one listing jumped out at him. He’d never heard it before, and neither the name of the song or the band sounded particularly interesting, but regardless he placed his quarter in and selected the song.

At the table, Rolo looked up, eyes wide as the jukebox began to play. He blinked, not noticing when Hunk came back to the table.  
“This song, huh?” Shiro smirked, tapping his fingers against the table. “I didn’t know you liked this kind of music, Hunk.”  
“I never heard it before.” Hunk shrugged, as the singer came on, singing about driving all night.  
“It’s not a bad one.” Shiro smiled warmly, before looking back towards Rolo, who hadn’t stopped looking at the jukebox the entire time. “Rolo?”

That shook the older man, and he turned his attention back to the group. “Oh, sorry.” he smiled, shakily. “Just… just been a long time since I heard this song.”  
Allura frowned, looking towards the older man, who kept glancing at the jukebox. She couldn’t place it, but there was something in his eyes. Sadness? Guilt?

The waitress came back, placing down everyone’s orders and the conversation changed, the group easily talking about other things. Rolo didn’t seem to relax until the song ended.

Once everyone had eaten and paid for their meals they parted ways, waving to Rolo as he headed towards his own vehicle. Once alone, Allura turned to the others. “Something seemed off about him.” she said. Pidge frowned.  
“Do you think he was lying to me?” she asked, her body relaxing when Allura shook her head.  
“No, I mean. When Hunk picked that song. Rolo looked… he looked so strange the entire time the song was playing. Like he was sad.”

“Maybe the song has some bad memories with him.” Shiro suggested. “But he didn’t want to raise a fuss about it.”  
“Maybe.” Allura glanced over, watching as Rolo’s car drove out of the parking lot and away. “I just… I think there’s something more about it.”

Hunk was the first to realize where she was going. “Oh. Oh, no.” the teen covered his face. “Please, no. Allura, I don’t want to deal with this again.”  
“If there’s something going on, I have to find a way to resolve it.” Allura pouted, looking back over to the teen.  
“Yes. Back home.” Hunk looked up to her. “No offense, but we’re in _Texas_. You don’t have to solve any mysteries that are out of your jurisdiction or whatever. And _especially_ if there’s more ghosts involved.” He grabbed onto the older woman’s hand. “Allura I am begging you, please don’t drag us into another spooky scary mystery.”

Allura pursed her lips, but before she could say anything, a new voice spoke behind them.  
“Is this young man bothering you, miss?” the group turned, and came face to face with a man, about Rolo’s age, looking towards the group. One thin eyebrow raised as he looked towards Hunk, who squeaked and let go of Allura’s hand.  
“Oh, no.” Allura said, smiling. “It’s fine, I assure you.”

The man cast a cold gaze towards the rest of the group, before they softened as they fell on Allura. “If you’re sure.” he smiled and stepped closer. ”I don’t want anyone harassing someone as fair as you.” Allura, to her credit, managed to smile.  
“That’s very kind of you, sir, but-”  
“Prince.” the man cut in. “My name. It’s Lothaire Prince.” He reached out a hand, and when Allura went to shake it, he instead turned it into placing a kiss on her hand.  
“Oh, my.” Allura flushed, before managing to take her hand back. “Um, it’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Prince.” she cleared her throat. “I’m Allura King.”  
“Tell me, Miss King,” Lothaire raised himself, smiling towards her. “Are you from around here?”  
“No, we’re just passing through.” Allura squared her shoulders. “We won’t be staying long.”

“That’s a pity.” Lothaire sighed, “Marmora could use a beautiful sight like yourself.”

Hunk and Pidge looked at each other, and exchanged equal looks of disgust. Shiro cleared his throat.  
“We should be getting along.” he said, looking over to the other man. “It’s been nice meeting you.”  
“Likewise.” Lothaire’s gaze didn’t waiver from Allura’s, and he only seemed to leave when the group made it back to their car. They watched as he walked into the café and Allura grimaced, wiping at the hand that had been kissed.

“There is a fine line between _southern hospitality_ and _pushy_.” she grumbled as Shiro started up the car.  
“What the hell kind of name is Lothaire, anyway?” Pidge asked, leaning forward in her seat. “Sounds like a vampire.”  
“Do you think he’s a vampire?” Hunk chimed in, leaning close as well.  
“I don’t think so.” Allura sighed, leaning back in her own seat. “Just a creep.”

“Please lean back in your seats.” Shiro finally said as he drove them back to their motel. “You’ll get whiplash.”

The teens grumbled, but complied, slumping back into their seats.

∞♪∽♪∝♪∞♪∽♪∝♪∞♪∽♪∝♪∞♪∽♪∝♪∞♪

The next day, the group had managed to get Rolo to let them enter his home. Pidge promised she just wanted to look at the room, _“just in case Matt left anything”._  
When the door opened, a woman with blond hair had answered, blinking her eyes before smiling. “You must be the people Rolo spoke with.” she said, before her gaze fell onto Pidge. “And you must be Matt’s sister.”  
“Yes, ma’am.” Pidge said, smiling. “I’m Pidge.”

The door opened wider as the blond allowed the group inside. “My name is Nyma.”  
Once inside, they were led towards the living room, where Rolo was having a hushed conversation with someone over the phone, Allura being able to make out the older man saying “I can’t stand it anymore.” His gaze moved towards the group and he straightened, “I’ll call you back, I’ve got guests over.”  
Rolo stood from the couch, carefully hanging up the phone, and smiled. “The guest room is this way.” he motioned for them to follow.  
Sure enough, the room was decorated in soft, pastel blues. White fluffy clouds were painted on the walls, and a crib was in the process of being built in the corner, along with a large variety of stuffed toys.  
“We laid out an air mattress in here for him.” Rolo explained. “It’s still in the closet, we haven’t had a chance to fold it back up.” he turned towards Pidge. “I hope you can find something we missed.” he turned around and left, Nyma following him.

Pidge quickly set to work, hurrying to the closet and took out the air mattress. It had been deflated, but, as Rolo said, they hadn’t folded it back up, yet. She shook it out, frowning when nothing fell loose and free. As she began to hunt around the room, Hunk took it upon himself to fold up the air mattress and put it away, neatly.  
Shiro stood in the doorway, watching the two, and Allura quietly excused herself, heading back to the living room.

Rolo and Nyma had moved towards the kitchen, and looked up to her when she entered, the couple smiling warmly. “Do you need something?” Rolo asked, leaning against the counter as Nyma worked on brewing some coffee.  
“Yes, but… it’s not about Matt.” Allura bit her lip, going over her words, carefully. “Yesterday, at the cafe.” She watched as Rolo’s face twitched. “What happened?”

Nyma looked between her husband and Allura while Rolo sighed, rubbing the side of his face. “That song the kid played, it… it brought back some memories.” he said. “A couple friends I used to know back when I was younger.”  
At that moment, Nyma’s eyes widened. “Rolo,” she whispered, reaching a hand over and gently taking his.  
“I know.” Rolo held up their hands, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. He turned back towards Allura. “But I’m tired of not talking about it. Somebody has to know.” 

"Know what?” Allura watched as Rolo looked towards his wife, and she quickly excused herself from the room.  
“These kids, Lance and Keith. We all hung out together, along with our other friends.” Rolo explained. “They… they died, a long while back. Police said there was a car accident and they had been drinking. We couldn’t prove it, but we know it wasn’t an accident.” He stepped over to a small spiral notebook sitting on the countertop, writing out an address and a name.

“Go here, tell her Rolo sent you.” Allura looked down as he ripped the paper out and handed it to her. “She’ll be able to give you more information.”  
“And why’s that?” Allura looked back up, raising an eyebrow. Rolo smiled at her, his eyes looking sad.  
“Acxa was Keith’s sister.”


End file.
